Many modern handheld communication devices are configured to operate under multiple wireless communication modes. Configuring a single communication device to communicate over different communication modes obviously enhances the versatility of the device. However, this enhanced versatility can be problematic since the user often has limited control over the communication modes that are available at any given time.
Attempts have been made to provide the user with information concerning the current service mode of the communication device. For instance, Murray (U.S. Pat. No. 7,072,468) describes a wireless telephone that includes a pair of light sources, each located within the telephone housing, for visually indicating the active service mode (cellular/dispatch) to the user. Shi (US 2004/0203674) describes a wireless telephone that presents a call display screen listing various communication parameters associated with a call, including status (active/hold), type (voice/data), activity (TX/RX), service type (packet-switched/circuit-switched), and mode (GSM/GPRS/CDMA).